A few weeks
ago, I wrote about the idea of the circumcision of the heart, the sign of the
new covenant which Paul addressed in his letter to the Romans:
Rather,
a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the
heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from
others but from God. (Romans 2:29)
In the Old
Testament reading from last Sunday, the fifth Sunday of Lent, Jeremiah speaks
of a new covenant which God promises for the Jewish people, “The days are
surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel and the house of Judah.” Jeremiah
goes on to identify the sign of the new covenant as one that will be written in
the heart, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts;
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
It is quite
likely that Paul had this in mind when he spoke of the new covenant. As a good Jew and a good Pharisee, he would
have been very aware of Jeremiah’s prophetic declarations. It is unfortunate that this has not become a
more prevalent symbol in Christianity today.
It is spoken of in some parts of our religion but it is not as prevalent
as many symbols. The heart if a very
powerful symbol which does resonate as a symbol of love even in our scientific
materialistic world today.
The heart
traditionally represented the feeling world of human existence at the deepest
level and going back to ancient times.
Indeed, as noted by theologian Marcus Borg:
the
heart in biblical tradition is an image of the self at its deepest level. For the ancient Hebrews, the heart was not
simply associated with feelings or courage or courage or love, as in common
usage. Rather, the heart was associated
with the totality of the human psyche: not only emotion but also intellect,
volition, and even perception.
What does it
mean then to have this new covenant written on the heart? I propose that this means that Paul is calling
Christians to have heart that are not written in stone, as the old covenant was
written on those stone tablets. Rather
we are called to be open hearted to and with others. That is easier said than done as I can attest
from my experience. When you are
interacting with someone who has caused you pain or is even difficult and
annoying the natural reaction seems to be to have a heart of stone which sets
up protective barriers around the soft core of the heart we were born with.
The key to
relating to someone who does not act in a loving way to you is not react in
kind. It is to turn the other cheek and
to go the second mile as we are told elsewhere.
For me the only way that this has the possibility of working is to
recognize that the other person is not “the other”. They are someone who is a flawed, imperfect
child of God just as you are a flawed, imperfect child of God. Perhaps their flaws are more obvious to you but
it may be that your inner vision is not 20/20.
What you have in common is that we are all sinful and in need of
redemption.
Unfortunately,
it is very easy and seems to satisfy us on a deep level when we can feel
righteous indignation or even good old-fashioned revenge and hope the other
person will get what they deserve in this world rather than the next. However, the new covenant we have as
Christians calls us to be open hearted.
Jesus told us that his yoke is easy.
Hmm, why then does this seem so difficult? Perhaps it gets easier with practice. I guess all we sinful children of God can do
is keep trying.
Blessing on
you journey to Easter.
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